Back to the real world
My family and I just recently got back from a wonderful trip to Ludington, Mich. to take care of my grandpa’s ashes. It’s the first time many of us have seen each other in about three years or so. We spent the week doing whatever we felt like doing and not worrying about having our time planned out to the last minute.
I now realize just how much I miss having vacations. Our family used to routinely take a summer trip up north nearly every year. But for what seems like a decade, that hasn’t happened because of schedules and budgets. I had forgotten how much I love to go to new places and spend time hiking around enjoying the fresh air. But the best part is spending time with family away from the pressures of careers, home repairs and the like. You get to see the real people behind the stress and catch up on everything from home renovations to engagements. The daily runs to the infamous Park Dairy House of Flavors for the best ice cream on the planet weren’t bad either.
I’m posting several photos in this entry from the trip, NONE OF WHICH CAN BE USED BY ANYONE BUT MYSELF FOR ANY PURPOSE IN ANY FORMAT WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM ME. Okay, legalities aside, here are some of my favorites.
Sunset over Hamlin Lake where we rented a few cottages right on the water.
A seagull taking wing at the water line on Lake Michigan.
Lake Michigan on an absolutely gorgeous day with hardly a cloud in the sky.
Some very cool fuzzy logs keeping the stones of Lost Lake in the Ludington State Park from eroding. My mom loved this one.
The S.S. Badger making it’s way back to Wisconsin and into the coming sunset.
Sunset over Lake Michigan after we spread my grandfather’s ashes in the sand dunes.
But now it’s back to reality. I miss the lake already.
The newspaper’s demise?
I’ve recently been working with my college newspaper, The Eastern Echo, to increase its readership. In this day and age, it’s hard to compete with all of the electronic media that deliver news on an almost instantaneous basis. Our 3-day per week publication does also put everything online, but we just don’t see the readership. It has been declining for years and it’s become a huge worry.
I think a lot of it is going to come down to design. We’ve got to find ways to drive students and community members to the paper instead of to other sources like other print media, TV and the Internet. Newspapers are just so boring compared to the heavy graphics and full color of the electronic media. And since we’re not in a Harry Potter storybook, the photos can’t move in print like they can electronically. Print media seems to be falling behind more and more, creating an ever increasing gap between print and electronic.
Do I think newspapers will die out? No. They’ve survived radio and television. Why wouldn’t they survive the Internet? It’s a matter of adaptation. Newspapers and the like have got to face their fears and redesign. They’ve got to offer something that can’t be found on the Internet, radio or television. Newspapers need to localize like no other and tailor the format of their stories to their readers specific needs, likes and wants. They’ve got to go full-color and pump up the graphics. A reader doesn’t want to dig through the full story unless they’re fully invested in it. So newspapers have got to provide a ton of ways for the reader to get the same story with as few words as possible.
There are people doing it. I’ve mentioned The Northwest Iowa Review before. That particular paper has been quite successful, even with electronic media being the much flashier, and admittedly stronger, competition.
My newspaper is cutting down to 2 publications per week. We just don’t have the resources to keep publishing 3 times when the third issue of the week is read so little. But we are also looking at going full color once our printer installs a new piece of equipment. But as helpful as that may be, we can’t get very far unless redesigning comes into play. Words on a page make everything gray and boring. We need more and better photos along with graphics and sidebars. If we are able to redesign successfully, we will draw more readers and, in turn advertisers. We will start making more money through that process and then can afford to make the paper an even more successful publication.
Missing Virginia
Well, it’s a whole 20 degrees where I’m at in Michigan. I miss walking around Virginia in a sweatshirt and still being warm. I’ve decided to post a few photos of my trip after all, with a warning about copyright. I know it won’t deter everyone, but I will certainly have some backup if I need it.
WARNING: These photos are 2009 copyrighted by me. You cannot use them in any fashion, personal, professional or otherwise, without specific written permission from me that includes the agreeable terms of use and my hand-written signature. Stealing is wrong, so just don’t do it.
Really cool tree in Shenandoah National Park
The Washington Monument at dusk. I couldn't figure out how to turn it in WordPress. If anyone can tell me, please let me know!
The Vietnam Wall at night with the Washington Monumnet in the background. Probably one of my favorite pictures ever.
This is one of the most impressive memorials to see at night. It leaves a big impression.
Oh my aching…
Yesterday was spent wandering around Washington, D.C. for the entire day. We knew it was time to head back when with every footstep your feet are screaming in pain. And then we walked the 20 or so blocks to where we had parked the car.
It was great to get back to the capitol city and see the sights again. We toured the International Spy Museum as well as the Newseum – which is friggin’ amazing by the way. We stopped by the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial as well as the Lincoln Memorial. We saw the monuments beginning at dusk, so by the time we got to the Vietnam Wall and then to Lincoln’s place it was dark. As everyone says, the Lincoln Memorial at night is quite the impressive structure.
It was cool to play with my camera. I ended up get some pretty great shots, including ones at the Vietnam wall. Those photos involved playing with aperture for a while as the wall is only very softly lit and it was nearly pitch black. I’d post my favorites but Katie’s entry on Internet paranoia – how some sites are stealing your photos – got me to think twice about that. I like the photos too much to let them be scooped out from under me.
Today we are planning to head into the Charlottesville area. I’ve heard the University of Virginia has pretty much the most beautiful campus on the planet. So we’ll walk around there today and do a bit of shopping in Charlottesville. It’s supposed to rain today, but with any luck it won’t do so while we’re wandering outside.
